pursuance

Wanted to say first, I’ve been a lurker/reader here for a little bit and decided to sign on up here at TGO seeing how I’m a proud owner of a 1990 Iroc-Z. To the point, ever since I bought this car, I’ve always noticed this but never really delved into why it’s like this up until now since I’m wanting to purchase SFCs and get everything locked in place per-se. Passenger side door and fender seems to not align with each other the way the driver side does. Backstory, this is an all original 1 owner car that I’ve purchased with 70,000 original miles and was garage kept it’s life and it’s all original with no accidents and still essentially a brand new car from a Barret Jackson auction.

To the point, the passenger door closes fine, no binding, no sagging, weatherstripping and etc is perfect. It’s merely just the way it looks. To me, the door is sitting inwards more so, or perhaps the fender is sticking out to much? The driver side is lined up, nothing sticking out and the center pinch is a solid line all the way down. It seems like the passenger side the rear of the car is lined up, just no the front.

To me, it’s minor, it’s mainly looks because the door closes fine and doesn’t sag or bind, my issue is, with getting SFC (I’m getting inners & outers) and locking everything in and stiffening her up, is this something I’d want to get straightened out beforehand? Will this be an issue before or after SFCs?

Thank you & sorry this is a long post, I’m not the best at explaining things.

tealman92

Look under the car by the door fender joint area. Most likly someone jacked the car up on the lower fender mount and this causes the fender to bow out from the door. Only way to fix it is remove the fender straighten out the lower mount on the fender and the body and reinstall the fender realigning it with the door. Very very common problem with these cars.

pursuance

tealman92

I looked at your pictures and that is exactly your problem. Someone jacked the car up by the fender so you will need to fix what I described.

pursuance

tealman92

It wont affect the sfc install at all. Make sure when they are installed the car is on a drive on lift so the car is settled on the suspension and not on a post lift or jack stands

no new tires

Needs pics of the whole car.

fullsize fun

This is wrong, you dont want the car on the wheels as the whole problem with these cars is they sag in the middle, with the car on a lift the body returns to the as built posture. I did mine that way and the door close perfect now and the car drives like its alot more solid. you want the front and rear to droop when you install them so the connectors are under tension when you put the car back on the ground.

tealman92

Do a little more research on the subject you will see what Im talking about. Not my first rodeo.

fullsize fun

No need for me to do research, the cars sag and twist , setting the car on jackstands at the frame sections helps load to car back to original. you do yours like you want, but mine is perfect now. before the doors rubbed on the striker post. now thy close perfect. Ive been messing with third gens since the 80s , I know what works and what doesnt.

86blackiroc

iTrader: (12)

It depends on how sloppy the body is. A high mile car that's been driven hard can sometimes twist all out of shape when it's supported by the jack/lift points. Ain't no way I'd weld in connectors trying to hold the body in that position.

If the car is on all four wheels and the body gaps are good, imho that's how it should be when the connectors get welded in. I'm not saying it won't work the other way, just saying which way I think is the better way to do it. My car has no squeaks or rattles and has some of the nicest body gaps you will find on a 3rd gen.

Also, the passenger fender was often bent out before they even left the dealer when new. A friend of mine bought a new '88 RS with the fender gap problem. He made the dealer fix it before he took delivery.